Lightning Claim Pettinger; Lose Koci

It was a busy morning on Channelside today as the Tampa Bay Lightning claimed[6] veteran forward Matt Pettinger[7] off of recall waivers from the Vancouver Canucks. Pettinger, who was acquired by the Canucks at the trade deadline last February from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Matt Cooke, failed to make the Vancouver roster out of camp and was assigned to the AHL Manitoba Moose. Pettinger had 3 goals for Manitoba in 2 games, and has 56 goals, 105 points in 354 NHL games with the Capitals and Canucks. The Canucks are on the hook for half of his $1.1M contract, and he is expected to join the Lightning instead of being reassigned to Norfolk.

It was also announced by the NHL that enforcer David Koci[10] was claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Blues. Koci was waived on Monday ahead of an anticipated activation of foward Ryan Craig[11] off of IR. Tampa will have the first option to reclaim Koci from the Blues if he cannot maintain a roster spot with St. Louis, and would be free to be reassigned to Norfolk by the Lightning.